Day 12: ‘Bird Seed

Jenifer Langosch/MLB.com

The Cardinals ended today with an intrasquad game, which sounds much more exciting than it actually is. The rules in the game are very loose, which is why there were five outs allowed in the bottom half of one inning. The purpose isn’t so much to compete as it is to run the bases in real situations and react on defense. There were no injuries (the Marlins, for one, couldn’t say the same), so all could be deemed a success.

Shane Robinson made an impressive diving catch late in the game. Rob Johnson and Ty Wigginton each put balls over the fence. Rafael Fucal had two hits in three at-bats but didn’t play the field. Matt Carpenter cleanly fielded the only groundball that came to him at second base. Everyone faced Bryan Eversgerd, the left-handed pitching coach for Triple-A Memphis.

Other notes from the final day before Grapefruit League play:

Shelby Miller threw 25 pitches in a side session and said afterward that he felt no soreness in his right shoulder. Miller said he’ll throw live batting practice on Monday, assuming he has no setbacks between now and then. There certainly doesn’t seem to be any reason for concern about the right-hander’s status at the moment.

Adam Wainwright threw alongside Miller today in what was Wainwright’s final tune-up before he pitches in a game on Monday.

Jake Westbrook, Maikel Cleto, Keith Butler and Jorge Rondon all threw live BP before the intrasquad game got underway.

Friday marked the first time that the Cardinals had done any work inside Roger Dean Stadium this spring. Before today, all the workouts had taken place on the backfields of the complex.

In what was merely a roster formality, the Cardinals have moved Chris Carpenter to the 60-day disabled list. This clears one spot on the 40-man roster for the club, which previously had no openings.

Manager Mike Matheny did not commit to which position players he’ll use in Saturday’s game against the Marlins, though he hinted that several of the projected Major League starters will be in there. On the pitching side, Trevor Rosenthal and Michael Wacha will be the first two Cardinals to make an appearance.

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